1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital object delivery systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for optimizing profits in transmissions of digital objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the increased popularity of e-commerce, many customers are now purchasing objects of an essentially digital nature on the world wide web. Typical examples of such objects include CDs containing music or other audio, and DVDs containing movies or other video. But there are many other examples, including video games and other software. At present customers who purchase such digital objects generally have the object sent to them via mail or a similar private delivery service. In the near future, it will probably become more economical and more satisfactory to deliver such digital objects electronically. The customer may receive the digital object more quickly, for example. The e-commerce merchant need not maintain or create a large inventory.
One major means of electronic delivery will involve utilizing spare bandwidth in a broadcast environment such as cable TV, satellite TV, or TV via the airwaves. In today""s TV environment, for example, some spare bandwidth usually exists even when a channel is broadcasting normal programming, typically in the form of the so-called vertical blanking interval or VBI. Similarly, some channels will go xe2x80x9cdarkxe2x80x9d in the middle of the night or possibly at other times, potentially leaving the entire channel bandwidth available for broadcasting digital objects.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method for management and allocation of spare bandwidth in a manner which optimizes the revenue and ultimately the profits of e-commerce merchant""s delivery services.
In accordance with the present invention, a method for selecting a channel and delivery time for digital objects for a broadcast delivery service including multiple channels of varying bandwidths includes the steps of selecting digital objects to be sent over the multiple channels, generating a schedule and pricing for the digital objects based on the digital object selected and existing delivery commitments and manipulating the schedule and pricing to provide a profitable delivery of the digital objects.
In alternate methods, the step of generating a schedule and pricing may include the step of scheduling the delivery of the digital objects by determining when to deliver each digital object and determining which channel will carry each digital object to provide a highest possible amount of revenue from the delivery of the digital objects. The method may include the step of determining an amount of time needed to deliver a digital object pursuant to a request, and offering delivery options which meet or exceed the amount of time. The step of dynamically deciding which delivery times to provide the highest possible amount of revenue and offering delivery options in accordance with the delivery times is preferably included. The method may also include the steps of dynamically deciding a number of delivery times to provide the highest possible amount of revenue and discounting costs for the delivery times to encourage customers to choose among the number of delivery times.
Further, the step of manipulating the schedule and pricing may further include the steps of formulating a transportation problem to determine a delivery sequence for the digital objects and solving the transportation program to determine the delivery sequence based on profitability. The step of solving the transportation program may include the step of assuming, temporarily, all deliveries include the same amount of work. The method further includes the step of swapping the digital objects to improve the delivery sequence based on profitability. The step of swapping preferably includes the step of swapping the digital objects by employing a greedy heuristic. The step of generating a schedule and pricing for the digital objects is preferably based on available bandwidth of the channels.
Another method for selecting a channel and delivery time for digital objects for a broadcast delivery service including multiple channels of varying bandwidths includes the steps of selecting digital objects to be sent over the multiple channels, formulating and solving a transportation problem to generate a delivery sequence for the digital objects according to the digital objects and existing delivery commitments, manipulating the delivery sequence based by determining when to deliver each digital object and determining which channel will carry each digital object to provide a highest possible amount of revenue from the delivery of the digital objects.
In other methods, the steps of determining an amount of time needed to deliver a digital object pursuant to a request, and offering delivery options which meet or exceed the amount of time may be included. The method may further include the steps of dynamically deciding which delivery times to provide the highest possible amount of revenue and offering delivery options in accordance with the delivery times. The method may also include the steps of dynamically deciding a number of delivery times to provide the highest possible amount of revenue, and discounting costs for the delivery times to encourage customers to choose among the number of delivery times. The step of formulating and solving the transportation problem may include the step of assuming, temporarily, all deliveries include the same amount of work.
The method may include the step of swapping the digital objects to improve the delivery sequence based on profitability, and the step of swapping the digital objects may employ a greedy heuristic.
A system for selecting a channel and delivery time for digital objects for a broadcast delivery service including multiple channels of varying bandwidths includes at least one user interface for selecting objects to be transmitted thereto, the user interface for identifying and receiving object transmissions corresponding to the selected objects over channels having available bandwidth. A scheduler is included for managing usage of network channels and object transmission sequences, the scheduler for generating a schedule and pricing for the digital objects to be transmitted based on the digital objects selected and existing delivery commitments, the scheduler manipulating the schedule and pricing to provide a profitable delivery of the digital objects.
In alternate embodiments, the scheduler may determine when to deliver each digital object and which channel will carry each digital object to provide a highest possible amount of revenue from the delivery of the digital objects, and the scheduler may also determine an amount of time needed to deliver a digital object pursuant to a request, and offers delivery options which meet or exceed the amount of time. The scheduler may determine a number of delivery times which provide the highest possible amount of revenue and offers delivery options in accordance with the number of delivery times, and the scheduler may also determine a number of delivery times to provide the highest possible amount of revenue and discounts costs for the delivery times to encourage customers to choose among the number of delivery times. The scheduler may include means for formulating and solving a transportation problem to determine a delivery sequence for the digital objects based on profitability. The scheduler may employ a greedy heuristic for swapping the digital objects to improve the delivery sequence based on profitability. The multiple channels of varying bandwidths are preferably included in a television network, a satellite television network and/or a cable television network.